ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women’s hockey team (4-12-2, 1-6-0 CHA) lost its final home game of the 2017 calendar year, 2-0 to Penn State University (4-7-8, 2-2-4 CHA) at the Gene Polisseni Center on Saturday afternoon.
Brooke Madsen and Katie Rankin scored second period goals for the Nittany Lions. Goaltender Daniela Paniccia was flawless, stopping all 32 shots she faced, 15 in the third period.
Terra Lanteigne (Hatchet Lake, Nova Scotia/Charles P. Allen) was strong in net for RIT, stopping 28 of 30 shots. Logan Land (Turkey Point, Ontario/Holy Trinity Catholic) led the Tigers with five shots on goal, while Brittney Gout (Caledon, Ontario/Brampton Canadettes) added four.
RIT out-shot Penn State, 32-30, including a 15-5 edge in the third period. The Nittany Lions were 1-for-4 on the power-play, while RIT was 0-for-3.
“I thought it was a well-played game by both teams,” said Bruce B. Bates Women’s Hockey Coach Scott McDonald. “We played with a sense of urgency, moved the puck well and were much more competitive today.”
Neither team scored in the opening period, despite a combined 28 shots on goal.
Gout had a great chance for the Tigers nearly five minutes in as she had space in the Penn State zone and fired a good hard shot from the left circle off the rush that Paniccia deflected away with her shoulder. Brooke Baker (Saline, MI/Saline) had a good chance from nearly the same spot later in the period, but once again, Paniccia was in position to make the save.
Lanteigne had to make a handful of big saves as well in the opening period, including one on Natalie Heising from the slot with six minutes left.
Penn State would score a pair of second period goals to lead 2-0 after 40 minutes of play. Madsen would fire a wrist shot from the high slot off the shoulder of Lanteigne and in for her third goal of the season just over seven minutes into the period to make it 1-0 Nittany Lions. Just under seven minutes later, Rankin would finish off a nice passing play, one-timing a shot from the right circle on a feed from Kelsey Crow for a power-play goal.
Paniccia continued to stymie the RIT attack in the period. She made two big saves from point-blank range on Gout and Brinna Dochniak (Marine on St. Croix, MN/Stillwater) to keep RIT off the scoreboard.
RIT turned it on in the third period, out-shooting the Nittany Lions, 15-5. Eight of RIT’s 15 shots in the period came on two power-plays. With 2:44 remaining, RIT was awarded a power-play and pulled Lanteigne for the extra attacker, giving them a 6-on-4 advantage. The attempted several shot attempts, but Paniccia and Nittany Lions did a great job to preserve the shutout.
Today was the second of four games between the two teams this season. Yesterday, Penn State scored four third period goals on its way to a 5-0 win over RIT. The Tigers and Nittany Lions will also meet at Penn State on Feb. 16-17, 2018.
The all-time series between the two schools is now even at 13-13-3.
Tomorrow, both the RIT men’s and women’s teams will hold a holiday skate with fans that gets underway at 11 a.m.
The Tigers return to action next weekend, as they head west to Bemidji State University for a pair of games. Both Friday and Saturday’s games get underway at 4:07 p.m. EST. RIT returns home on Jan. 19-20, 2018.
